Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act
A BILL
To enhance the rights of domestic workers, and for other purposes.
2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
There are an estimated 2,500,000 domestic workers across the United States working in the homes of people of the United States to provide home and personal care, child care, and house cleaning services.
Domestic work makes all other work possible. It is work that cannot be outsourced to workers living outside of the United States, nor is it close to being automated. Without the millions of domestic workers caring for children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, and cleaning homes, much of the economy would come to a standstill.
The employment of individuals in domestic service in households affects commerce as described in section 2(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 202(a)).
Domestic workers are hired or contacted for work by phone, mail, or Internet, or through newspaper ads, and travel to work through transportation on interstate highways, interstate transit, or vehicles in interstate commerce.
In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that between 2016 and 2026—
the number of new jobs for home health and personal care aides will increase 41 percent, which is an increase of 1,200,000 jobs and the largest increase in new jobs of any occupational category during such period; and
the number of new jobs for child care and house cleaning positions will increase 6 to 7 percent.
Nine out of ten domestic workers are women, and such women are disproportionately people of color and immigrants. Women, people of color, and immigrants have historically faced barriers to employment and economic advancement.
Domestic workers face low wages and unacceptable working conditions. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the average wage for a domestic worker is approximately $11 per hour, or $23,000 per year if working full-time. In practice, the average wage for a domestic worker is less than such approximation given that domestic work has largely been negotiated in the informal labor market.
A landmark study of domestic workers published in 2012 by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Urban Economic Development of the University of Illinois at Chicago Data Center titled “Home Economics: The Invisible and Unregulated World of Domestic Work” indicated poor working conditions across the domestic workers industry. The findings of such study included that—
domestic workers have little control over their working conditions, and employment is usually arranged without a written contract;
35 percent of domestic workers interviewed reported that they worked long hours without breaks in the year immediately preceding the interview;
25 percent of live-in domestic workers had responsibilities that prevented them from getting at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night during the week immediately preceding the interview; and
91 percent of domestic workers interviewed who encountered problems with their working conditions in the year immediately preceding the interview did not complain about their working conditions because they were afraid they would lose their job.
The study described in paragraph (8) found that domestic workers have little access to federally supported employment benefits. For instance:
Less than 2 percent of such workers receive retirement or pension benefits, and less than 9 percent of such workers work for employers that collect payroll taxes on wages paid to such workers to provide eligibility for Social Security benefits.
Sixty-five percent of such workers do not have health insurance, and only 4 percent of such workers receive employer-provided insurance, despite the fact that domestic work is hazardous and often results in illness or physical injuries.
Compounding these challenges is the fact that many domestic workers have been, and in many cases continue to be, excluded from key provisions of labor and employment laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), the Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et seq.), and the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). Minimum employee threshold rules, misclassification of domestic workers as independent contractors, and exclusion of independent contractors from coverage means that most domestic workers are also de facto excluded from Federal civil rights protections, including protections under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (29 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) and other laws.
The International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention, adopted in 2011, calls for domestic workers to have the right to freedom of association and collective actions, protections against harassment, privacy rights, and the right to be informed of conditions of employment. This Convention also calls for the right of domestic workers to keep their travel documents, the right to overtime compensation and rest breaks, the right to minimum wage coverage, the right to occupational safety and health protections, and mechanisms to pursue complaints and ensure compliance with the law.
The unique nature of their work, in private homes with individuals and families, also often makes it difficult for domestic workers to use Federal programs and policies to improve their skills and training and to join together collectively to negotiate better pay and working conditions.
Many domestic workers are also vulnerable to discrimination and sexual harassment. These issues are further exacerbated by the unique working conditions faced by domestic workers, such as isolation, poverty, immigration status, the lack of familiarity with the law and legal processes, limited networks for support, language barriers, and fear of retaliation and deportation.
Millions of older individuals, individuals with disabilities, and families are increasingly relying on domestic workers. By bringing domestic work out of the shadows and creating incentives and investments that help raise wages and standards for domestic workers, the Federal Government can lift millions of the most vulnerable workers out of poverty, reduce turnover due to poor working conditions, thereby enhancing quality of care, and support the millions of working and retired people of the United States who rely on them.
3. Definitions
Fair Labor Standards Act definitions— In this Act, the terms commerce, employ, employee, employer, enterprise, enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, goods, person, and State have the meanings given such terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203).
Other definitions— In this Act:
Child— The term child—
means an individual who is under 18 years of age; and
includes an individual described in subparagraph (A) who is—
a biological, foster, or adopted child;
a stepchild;
a child of a domestic partner;
a legal ward; or
a child of a person standing in loco parentis.
Disability— The term disability has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102).
Domestic partner—
In general— The term domestic partner, with respect to an individual, means another individual with whom the individual is in a committed relationship.
Committed relationship defined— The term committed relationship for purposes of subparagraph (A)—
means a relationship between 2 individuals, each at least 18 years of age, in which both individuals share responsibility for a significant measure of each other’s common welfare; and
includes any such relationship between 2 individuals, including individuals of the same sex, that is granted legal recognition by a State or political subdivision of a State as a marriage or analogous relationship, including a civil union or domestic partnership.
Domestic services— The term domestic services—
means services of a household nature provided in interstate commerce and performed by an individual in or about a private home (permanent or temporary); and
includes services performed by individuals such as companions, babysitters, cooks, waiters, butlers, valets, maids, housekeepers, nannies, nurses, janitors, laundresses, caretakers, handymen, gardeners, home health aides, personal care aides, and chauffeurs of automobiles for family use.
Domestic worker— The term domestic worker—
means, except as provided in subparagraph (B), an individual, including an employee, who is compensated directly or indirectly for the performance of domestic services; and
does not include—
a family member, friend, or neighbor of a child, or a parent of a child, who provides child care in the child’s home;
any individual who is an employee of a family child care provider or is a family child care provider; and
any employee described in section 13(a)(15) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 213(a)(15)).
Domestic work hiring entity— The term domestic work hiring entity—
means any person who provides compensation directly or indirectly to a domestic worker for the performance of domestic services; and
includes—
a person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of a hiring entity in relation to a domestic worker; and
an employer of a domestic worker.
Family child care provider— The term family child care provider means 1 or more individuals who provide child care services, in a private residence other than the residence of the child receiving the services, for fewer than 24 hours per day for the child (unless the nature of the work of the parent of the child requires 24-hour care).
Functionally disabled elderly individual— The term functionally disabled elderly individual has the meaning given such term in section 1929(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396t(b)).
Parent— The term parent, with respect to a parent of a domestic worker, means a biological, foster, or adoptive parent of a domestic worker, a stepparent of a domestic worker, parent-in-law of a domestic worker, parent of a domestic partner of a domestic worker, or a legal guardian or other person who stood in loco parentis to the domestic worker when the worker was a child.
Personal or home care aide— The term personal or home care aide has the meaning given the term in section 1905(ff)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(ff)(3)).
Secretary— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Labor, except as otherwise specified in this Act.
Self-directed care— The term self-directed care, with respect to an individual, means services for the individual that are planned and purchased under the direction and control of the individual, including the amount, duration, scope, provider, and location of the services.
Shared living arrangement— The term shared living arrangement means a living arrangement involving—
except if 1 or more of the individuals are related to each other (by blood or a close association that is equivalent to a family relationship), not more than 2 individuals who are an individual with a disability or a functionally disabled elderly individual;
an individual providing services for compensation and living in the private home of the recipient of such services;
an individual receiving funding through a State Medicaid program under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.), or another publicly funded program;
a stipend or room and board as the primary form of payment for the individual providing such services; and
the individual receiving such services having the final decision regarding who is the provider of such services living with the individual, through a consumer-driven matching process that includes relationship building, person-centered planning as defined by the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and an assessment of individual compatibility.
Spouse— The term spouse, with respect to a domestic worker, has the meaning given such term by the marriage laws of the State in which the marriage was celebrated.